Nummerdor, who helped turn things around in two seasons as the varsity wrestling coach at Fruitport, is tackling another sport next.

Nummerdor is taking over as the varsity football coach at Holton. He replaces Chris Hilliker, who stepped down after three seasons. The Red Devils finished 2-7 in 2013.

“I’m not going to pretend it’s going to be an easy thing to do,” Nummerdor said. “But I know the kids, know the community and know how ready the program is to take off. I’m excited to get started working with the kids and to see some progress, put some wins on the board and get better every day.”

This is Nummerdor’s first chance as a head coach for varsity football. The 29-year-old was an offensive lineman on Fruitport’s state runner-up team in 2002 and the Trojans’ offensive line coach the past two seasons. He also had junior varsity assistant coaching stints at Orchard View and Reeths-Puffer, and also was on the staff at Hope College for two years. He played guard for four seasons at Hope.

He also is the junior varsity girls softball coach at Reeths-Puffer, but will be stepping away from all of his other coaching positions to concentrate on football at Holton.

“I’ve had a ton of different experiences. Being able to coach the first two years at Hope were the most valuable,” he said. “I could have returned as a fifth-year senior, but I didn’t. It was monumental, but it was the right thing to do. I’ve continued to learn and have picked up little things everywhere I’ve been.”

Nummerdor said he is familiar with Holton’s athletic talent as the wrestling coach at Fruitport, which finished his first season with just six healthy wrestlers to one dual-meet loss in his second season. His wife, Megan, is a preschool teacher in the Holton district, and they have a 1-year-old daughter, Hailee.

Holton athletic director Justin Wilson said the energy, passion and track record displayed by Nummerdor offsets his absence of experience as a head coach for football.

“When I talk to people about Jack, they say, first, he’s a fantastic football coach and fantastic leader, but an even better person,” Wilson said. “We’re looking for someone to come in and be a part of the community, be a part of school and run our program like a Jack Schugars or a Steve Wilson.”

Nummerdor’s first order of business is to meet with the team on Thursday and put together his coaching staff. He said he will be teaching in the district in the fall and hopes to use part of his time building relationships to get more players out not just for football but all sports.

Holton fielded a small squad numbers-wise last year and has had one of the smallest enrollments in the Central States Activities Association.

The league is splitting into two divisions next year and that should help. The Red Devils will compete in the Silver Division with Kent City, Hesperia, White Cloud, Lakeview and Morley-Stanwood. The Gold Division for larger schools will include Grant, Newaygo, Tri-County, Central Montcalm, Big Rapids, Chippewa Hills and Reed City.

The change also frees up Holton to play four nonconference games, which includes regaining its traditional opener against North Muskegon and adding Onekama, Eau Claire and Wyoming Lee.

Nummerdor hopes to establish a power-running attack as a backbone for the program.

“I know Holton has been running the veer. This late in the offseason, we won’t abandon ship on that,” he said. “I grew up with the wing-T and know the pro-style offense and the spread. I want to get back to a power game, not necessarily a wing-T, but a power-T type offense and include some of the veer.”

Fruitport varsity football coach Greg Vargas said landing Nummerdor is a great fit for Holton and gives him a chance to settle into one spot.

“One of the rare traits he has is to be present in whatever sport he happens to be coaching and he works his butt off,” Vargas said. “I kind of knew this has been an ambition of his. I knew at some point this is where he was headed. He’s gotten a great sampling of what works and what doesn’t.”

Mark Opfermann covers sports for MLive Muskegon Chronicle. Email him at mopferma@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter and Facebook.